Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
How many friends do you have on Facebook?
How many members do you have in your family?
How many people do you work with?
How many people do you run/cycle/swim with?
How many people do you have fun with?
The chances are that 1 in 4 of all these people suffer from mental illness of one sort or another. You probably cannot tell who you is affected. They are no different from you. You may even have suffered from mental illness yourself at one time or another.
Depression, Anxiety attacks, Phobias, Dementia, Bipolar illness, Schizophrenia, Eating disorders--these illnesses affect many people in Scotland, and in turn affect the people who love them.
Even if you have never been affected, you will definitely know someone who has. Chances are they have kept it hidden from you. It is not uncommon for affected people to encounter bias and lack of understanding. It is difficult to believe in this day and age that there is still a stigma attached to mental illness. This makes it more difficult for people to access the help they need.
Health in Mind is a scottish charity which provides help for people who suffer from mental illness. They provide help in many ways. To name a few, they provide counselling and befriending services, provide accommodation and support for people struggling to cope in the community, they undertake research in some aspects of mental illness, and they have a website known as 'Edspace' which is a valuable source of self help and downloadable literature for sufferers.
Health in Mind provide a wealth of help for people with mental health difficulties in Scotland. They are a much smaller organisation than Mind, which is a similar organisation providing care for people in England and Wales. I raised money for Mind by running London Marathon last year. This year,since I am running Edinburgh Marathon, it seemed a natural choice to raise money for Health in Mind.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now. :-)
